Plus Siakam completely snubbed by coaches
It was the Raptors at their very worst followed by their very best.
If anyone is looking for a microcosm of this up and down Raptors’ season to date, the start to last night’s game and the start to the second half would be the perfect candidate.
Don Brennan’s daily hit on the world of sports betting. Whether you’re new to sports gambling or an experienced wagerer, this newsletter offers trustworthy insights into the odds game. 19+. Please gamble responsibly.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Closing Lines will soon be in your inbox.
From couldn’t hit a basket, couldn’t muster a stop to can’t miss and not willing to give up anything was pretty much how it went last night.
Fortunately for the Raptors there was a little more of the latter and less for the former as they turned yet another demoralizing start into a solid finish on their way to a 117-111 win.
Things were going so bad early on for the Raptors that when Nick Nurse called a timeout, he did so in order to shake things up, sitting down Scottie Barnes and Gary Trent Jr. and bringing Chris Boucher and Malachi Flynn into the game.
Down 9-0 at that point, the move paid immediate dividends as Boucher, who had a solid game off the bench in the loss in Utah last time out, promptly found the range with a three-pointer.
It immediately gave the Raptors some life. Boucher would score nine in the quarter and help get his team back in the game.
The combination of Boucher and Fred VanVleet got the deficit down to just one at the end of the first quarter.
The Raptors were a little better in the second quarter, again spurred on by VanVleet, who is getting his own more and more these days.
But it was the start of the third that turned the game for good.
VanVleet, whose entire offensive package seems to have returned after some tough going in December and to the midpoint of January, finished with 32 points, including five of 11 makes from three.
Right with VanVleet on this night after that early seat on the bench was backcourt mate Trent Jr.
Trent Jr. returned to the floor late in the first quarter and made his next eight shots on his way to a 29-point night. Like VanVleet, he did most of his damage from behind the arc where he was 5-for-9 from distance.
Boucher, the early spark plug in this one finished with 11 and eight rebounds, the only 11 points from the Raptors bench on the night.
With the win the Raptors are now an even 3-3 on this longest road trip of the season. They can secure a winning trip still, but it’s going to take a win over Memphis in the trip finale on Sunday to do so.
SIAKAM SNUBBED
Pascal Siakam may not be at the very top of his game right now, but in no way does that let those coaches that deemed him unworthy of an all-star spot off the hook.
Siakam has easily been among the top 12 players in the Eastern Conference this season. That is not in debate.
But for whatever reason, the coaches, and we don’t even really know who is doing the voting because head coaches pass it along to their staff, so it could be lead assistants or even second-row assistants making these calls.
Whoever did the vote, we’re saying they got it wrong.
In the East these coaches deemed DeMar DeRozan a more deserving all-star than Siakam.
And as much as we appreciate DeRozan, both on the court and off where he has become one of the more unpredictable and entertaining quotes in the league, his numbers don’t stack up with Siakam’s.
Through 48 games DeRozan is averaging 26 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists a night. Siakam, over 43 games is averaging 24.9 points, eight rebounds and 6.2 assists.
The gap is not that large. The explanation most often given is that Chicago has one more win than Toronto and three fewer losses.
Last we looked though, the all-star game was supposed to be about individual greatness in a particular year. Don’t get me wrong, both are having good years and neither team is exactly putting the fear of god in opponent’s, but Siakam is having the better individual season and that’s without even getting into what either does defensively for his team, something that would tip the scales further in Siakam’s favour, though few consider defence when it comes to the all-star game.
The answer, and this is one former player, now media darling J.J. Reddick is pushing for, is expanding the all-star rosters.
Every year, without fail, within minutes of the full team being announced, the cry of ‘He got robbed’ rings out.
Who was the biggest snub this year?
Siakam is right at the top of that list in the East but he’s in good company with the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Philadelphia’s James Harden and even Atlanta’s Trae Young.
In the West cries of disrespect are following Denver’s Aaron Gordon, Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards.
The traditionalists will tell you adding more bodies to the all-star game devalues the accomplishment. Maybe that’s true. And there would still snubs every year even if it was expanded.
But if it prevents a truly deserving player from being left off, we’re all for it and Siakam is very much deserving of this.
UNDER THE WEATHER
Missing from last night’s broadcast was play-by-play man Matt Devlin who handles those duties whether it’s a TSN or a Sportsnet game.
But last night Devlin was not feeling his best and had to beg off. The team scrambled to get radio play-by-play man Paul Jones in Toronto to fill in with Jack Armstrong providing the colour from the floor in Houston alongside sideline reporter Kayla Grey.